Automatic folding machine



y 1939- R. w. CHARLES ET AL 2,158,396

AUTOMATIC FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet l M 2 :U Inventors P0702114 VI. (202/1 8 Alma; Gauge P c ZZ klzgs Q y Mm QM m A iiorneys y 16, 19 R. W.HARL ES M. 2,158,896

AUTOMAT IC FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1938 3 sheetssheet 2 A iiorneys May 16, 1939. R. w. CHARLES El AL AUTOMATIC FOLDING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W K Inventor 7?o/ana 14 Cizar/ s Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC FOLDING MACHINE Application March 15, 1938, Serial No. 196,080

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an automatic folding machine for folding various kinds of flat, flexible articles, such as napkins, towels, sheets, papers, etc.

The general object of the invention is to provide air pressure for forcing that part of an article where the fold is to be made between belts so. constructed and arranged that the article will be gripped between the belts and folded, and the article then conveyed to similar folding means for producing another fold in the article,-

or to a point of discharge, it being understood that as many folds can be made in the article as desired. by simply duplicating the air pressure means and the belts and causing some of the belts to convey the articles from one folding means to another, with one of the final folding belts carrying the folded articles to a point of discharge.

This invention also consists in certain other features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, to be hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in 5 the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings wherein like characters denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view, showing one arrangement for carrying out the invention.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 3. Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus.

, In these" drawings, the letter A indicates a supporting frame which, at its ends, has the shafts journaled therein, each shaft carrying a pair of rollers 2, which are spaced apart, and each pair of rollers on the two shafts support an endless 4O belt 3. An elongated pipe 4 is located between the two belts and has the perforations 5 in its top, the pipe being arranged slightly above the upper reaches of the belts and has its ends sloping forwardly and outwardly, as shown at 6, so if; that a portion of an article X (see Figure 3), placed on the belts, will be caused to pass over the pipe as the forward edge of the article strikes a part 6. Of course, only that end of the pipe at the entrance end of the apparatus may be provided with the sloping end 6, though the drawings show both ends as provided with these sloping parts. This pipe 4 is connected to any suitable source of compressed air, though the drawings show it as being connected by the pipes I I with a tank 8 supported on a platform 9 forming part of the frame A, the tank being supplied with compressed air by a compressor |0 also resting on the platform 9, the compressor being connected with the tank by a pipe The frame also has journaled therein a pair of shafts l2 and I3, which are arranged parallel to and above the plane of the pipe 5, and said shafts are also arranged one on each side of said plane, so that the air passing through the perforations of the pipe will pass between the two shafts. The 10 shaft |2 carries a pair of spaced rollers l4 and shaft I3 carries a roller l5. A shaft I6 is journaled in one side of the frame and carries a pair of rollers l1 and three shafts l8, I9 and 20 are journaled in the opposite side of the frame, the shafts l6, l8, l9 and 20 extending in the same direction as the shafts l2 and I3, and each of the three shafts |8, I9 and 20 carries a single roller 2|, 22 and 23, respectively.

A pair of belts 24 pass over the rollers l1, I4, 20 I5 and 2|, these belts passing under the rollers l4 and upwardly over the roller l5. A single belt 25 passes over the rollers I5, 22, 23 and 2|, with portions of the belt passing under those portions of the belts 24 which extend between the rollers I5 and 2|, as shown in Figure 3. Thus that portion of the article lifted by the air blast escaping from the perforations 5 in the pipe 4 enters the space between the belts 24 and 25 between the rollers l4 and I5, so that this portion of the article is gripped by these belts as they pass over the roller l5, so that a fold is formed in the article and then the article passes between the belts 24 and 25 where said belts contact each other between the rollers l5 and 2|, and as the belt 25 passes upwardly at an angle from the rollers 2| to the rollers 23, as the article is carried upwardly by those portions of the belts passing over the roller 2|, it will continue to travel with the upper reaches of the belts 24 between the rollers 2| and I. A second perforated pipe 26 extends between the upper reaches of the belts 24, and this pipe is connected to the tank and the air blasts from this pipe will lift portion of the article, so that this portion of the article will be gripped between the belts 21 and 28, so that the article will be again folded, but this fold will be at right angles to the first fold. The belt 21 is carried by the rollers 28' and 29 supported by the shafts 30 and 3| journaled in the top part of the frame,

the belt 21 to extend at an angle upwardly into contact with a part of the belt Ell in such a manner as to cause the portion of the article raised by the air blast from the pipe to be gripped and thus folded between the belts 2i and 28, and then the article is carried along the belt 28 to a point of discharge, if this is the final fold to be made in the article, the shaft with the roller 33 thereon being carried by an extension 36 of the frame, so that the folded article can be readily discharged into any suitable container or other device or picked up from the belt. Of course, if further folds are to be made in the article, the belt 28 would convey the article to other folding means which would be made similar to those shown in the drawings.

In order to make the operation of the device automatic, electric means are provided for controlling the flow of air to'the pipes, andsuch means may be of various types, though the drawings show such means as including an electrically operated valve in the pipe leading from the tank, such valve being indicated generally by the reference numeral 31, one of such valves preferably being provided in each of the pipes 1 leading to the respective perforated pipes 4 and 26, and the switch. for controlling the circuit of such electric means includes a standard 38 carrying a spring contact 39, and a weighted am pivoted to the standard and located in the path of the article. This arm carries a spring contact ll which, when the arm 40 is moved by the article striking the same, will engage the contact 39 and thus close the circuit to the valve 31, so as to open the valve to permit the air to flow to the perforated pipe, so that the blasts therefrom will lift the article where it is desired to fold the same, as before described.

The drawings show a switch S for actuation by the article traveling along the belts 3, and a switch 8' operated by the article upon the belts 24, it being understood that these switches must be so located as to be engaged by the article to cause the air blasts to fold the article at the desired point, and they may be made adjustable for use with different sizes of articles.

Thus it will be seen that the article to be folded is placed on the belts 3 so that the article is conveyed by these belts over the pipe 4, and whenthe front edge of the article strikes the arm 48 of the first switch, the valve 31 will be opened and the air flowing through the perforations 5 of the pipe 4 will lift that portion of the article where the fold line is to be made, and this lifted portion will be gripped by parts of the belts 24 and 25, so that the articles will be folded and the folded articles will then be conveyed to the next folding point where the folding will be done by the blasts from the pipe 26 and the belts 21 and 28. Then the twice-folded article'will be conveyed to the point of discharge, or if further folds are to be made in the article, the belt 28 will convey the article to the next folding point.

Any suitable means can be provided for actuating the rollers, though the drawings show such means as including a motor M driving a pulley 42, which in turn drives the belt 43 which passes over a pulley 44 connected-With the shaft I at the rear of the machine and over a pulley 45 connected with the shaft 35 and then over a pulley 46 attached to a shaft 41 which is geared to the shaft II by the gears 48, it being understood that the belts 24 actuate the. belts 25 through contact with said belts 25 throughthe rollers l5 and 2|.

While the drawings show a single valve 31 it is to be understood that a number of these valves may be used, one for each blast pipe.

It is thought from the foregoing description that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, providedthat such changes fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an article folding apparatus, sets of roller-s-upported belts having horizontal flights, one belt having a-portion converging from one roller to a second roller where it contacts and travels with the belt passing over the second roller, fluid pressure means for forcing a portion of the article against said converging portion of the belt, where it will be gripped by said portion and the other beltand. folded, said belts cooperating to convey the article to the upper flight of one of the belts for feeding the article to a subsequent folding mechanism, and means for conveying an article to position a portion thereof between the pressure means and the space formed by the converging part of said belt.

2. In an article folding apparatus, sets of roller-supported belts having horizontal flights, one

belt having a portion converging from one roller to a. second roller where it contacts and travels with the belt passing over the second roller, fluid pressure means for forcing a portion of the article against said converging portion of the belt, where it will be gripped by said portion and the other belt and folded, said belts cooperating. to convey the article to the upper flight of oneof the belts for feeding the article to a subsequent folding mechanism, means for conveying an article to positiona portion thereof between the pressure means and the space formed by the converging part of said belt, and means for automatically actuating the fluid pressure means by the article when that portion of the article to be folded comes opposite the fluid pressure means.

3. In an article. folding apparatus, a pair of belts having horizontal flights, rollers for supporting the belts, a portion of one belt converging from one roller to another roller where it contacts and travels with the belt passing over a second roller, an elongated perforated pipe having its perforations located opposite the space formed by the converging portion of the belt, means including a valve for connecting the pipe with a source of fluid pressure, means for conveying an article'between the pipe and the belts, and means actuated by the article for opening the valve-when a certain portion of the article reaches the pipe for causing the fluid pressure from the pipe to force said portion of the article against the converging portion of the belt to cause the belts to grip and fold the article, said contactingportion of the belts serving to convey the article to the upper flight of one of the belts to feed the article to a subsequent folding mechanism.

4. In an article folding'apparatus, a pair of horizontally spaced apart roller-supported belts, an elongated pipe located between the belts and having perforations therein, means for connecting the pipe to a source of fluid pressure, such means including a valve, such belts acting as conveying means for an article to be folded and adapted to bridge the space between the belts when conveyed thereby, electric means for actuating the valve, a switch for closing the circuit of such electric means and including a pivoted arm extending to a point between the belts where it will be engaged and moved to circuit closing position by the article, a pair of rollers spaced apart, with the space between the rollers located opposite the perforated part of the pipe, belts passing over said rollers, with one belt having a portion converging from one roller to the other roller where it contacts the belt passing over said other roller, and other rollers for supporting the belts, one of the last mentioned belts forming conveying means for the article after it has been folded.

5. In an article folding apparatus, a pair of longitudinally spaced apart belts adapted to convey a foldable article traveling in bridging po-l sition on the belts, a pair of belts travelin 20 transversely above said first named belts and having converging portions for traveling with each other and fluid pressure jetting means positioned between the spaced apart belts and adjacent the converging portion of the second pair of belts to fold the article and force the folded edge between said second pair of belts.

6. In an article folding apparatus, a pair of longitudinally spaced apart belts adapted to convey a foldable article traveling in bridging position on the belts, a perforated pipe extending longitudinally between the spaced edges of the belts and above the horizontal plane of the belts and along which the article is adapted to ride for creasing the article along its medial line and fluid pressure means adapted for discharge from the pipe against the crease to fold the article.

ROLAND W. CHARLES. JAMES GEORGE. PLATO A. SPILIOS. 

